Hi! Back in June I posed this thread:
“I am signed up to take AP Literature, AP U.S. History 2, and AP Environmental Science for my junior year next year. I’m worried that I am overloading myself. I have never taken an AP class before, but have been recommended by my teachers for these courses next year.
At my school students are eligible to take AP Lab (a half-credit course) when having 3 or more AP classes in their schedule. This was very appealing to me because AP Lab is just a free block students get to work on assignments every other day.
I’m comfortable with taking AP Lit and APUSH 2 next year, but I am concerned about AP Envi Sci. I’m not entirely interested in science and I am by no means above average in science courses. In honors Bio freshmen year I had about a B average and in CP Chemistry this year I have had an A average.
I talked to my guidance counselor and he encouraged me to take 3 AP classes because it would “strengthen” my schedule and look good to colleges, but I am afraid I’m going to do poorly. Naturally, I am a very anxious and indecisive person so this has been difficult for me to figure out. I’m worried that I’m just going to stress myself out by throwing AP Envi Sci into the mix, but I would also have that free block every other day to work. I’d love to get the opinions of others on this matter especially if you have had experience in any of these classes.”
It is now a week before the new school year begins, and I am still (unfortunately) debating taking APES. Mostly because in June we got outlines of our schedules, and I was able to tolerate having to take APES (a class I really wasn’t excited to take, but was doing it to be eligible for AP Lab) because I had a friend in my class with me. Last week we got a more solid version of what our schedule will be for the year, and my friend is no longer in the same APES class. I immediately panicked and decided I couldn’t take that class because I’d be alone. There are only three other people in my grade in that class and I’m not friends with them. I’m also not friends with any of the upperclassmen in that class either. I cannot stand having a class I will be alone in, especially if it’s an AP class I’m not looking forward to taking. I’m really stressed about whether I should take this class or not still though because I really don’t want to loose the opportunity of being able to take AP Lab, so I can have a free block every other day to work on things. There’s also the pressure to take a certain number of AP classes which is dumb, but I certainly feel it. I also (stupidly) haven’t begun my summer work for this class yet and I only have one week to. If anyone has some help for me I would greatly appreciate the input!
I don’t have a take it/don’t take it answer, but some food for thought:
You had a B average in Honors Bio but a A average in CP Chem. Why? Was it the adjustment to high school? Did you not like/understand Bio? Was the Bio classe just generally a harder class? If you didn’t like or understand Honors Bio, that might be a bad sign for if you’ll like AP Enviro.
AP Enviro is considered a “easy” AP class. APUSH and Lang are mostly just a lot of reading. A LOT of reading. So that’s time consuming. Maybe that AP Lab would be a good thing. And from the sound of it, it’s basically a study hall you get a GPA bump for? I think AP Enviro might be the best choice if you want three AP’s for that lab.
As for not having any friends in your class: I think not having people you know in your class is an opportunity as much as an annoyance. Nobody will have a previous notion of what you’re like. You can kind of recreate the kind of student you are in class. Plus it’s not like your friend isn’t in the class, they’re just in a different period, right? You can still talk about the class with them. Most of the time you’ll spend on the class with be outside of the actual classroom.
Basically - If it’s your friend not being in your class with you that’s keeping you from wanting to take the class, I would do it. There are other upsides to taking the class.
Thanks for the response!
To answer your question about Bio freshmen year it was a mix of me not really liking or understanding bio, and I also had a teacher that wasn’t very good at explaining things which made things a bit worse. I think my success in CP chemistry was due to my teacher and the extremely slow pace of the class.
I would take the class expecting to make some new friends and take advantage of the free time block.
It doesn’t matter that the students aren’t in your grade. I took classes with students older than me and made friends more easily with them than the kids in my own class.
Knowing that the teacher for Bio wasn’t great, I would take AP Enviro next year.
It sounds like you’re trying to make excuses. APES is an AP science class for good students who aren’t good at Science so it sounds perfectly suited to you.
The point is that you’ll stretch yourself academically and will expand your circle of friends. In addition, knowing some upperclassmen will be handy, giving you some information about what’s to come.
Stop trying to find reasons to get out if APES ans get moving on summer work. You’ll be fine. You’ll make new friends and surprise yourself in your ability to succeed. 